PROJECT #2

Lumi

pROJECT OVERVIEW

This project was created as my final assignment for my Computer Animation class. I wanted to bring in elements from my other work, so I used Lumi — the mascot I originally designed for my app Hello Local. I like connecting my projects; it acts like a small trademark and a fun easter egg when people stumble onto my work.

The core concept was simple: Lumi comes to life while I’m editing her and starts causing mischief. I wanted a playful, light tone with a few comedic moments and reactions from Lum

STORY BOARD

I started by locking down the idea and creating a rough storyboard to understand the beats: Lumi flinching when a vertex is pulled, snooping into files, throwing tantrums, and causing playful chaos. I also decided early on that I wanted the final animation to look like it was still “in development,” so I chose to render directly from the viewport with axes, cursors, and overlays visible.

Timing mattered a lot because the initial requirement was 30 seconds. I overshot and ended up around 1 minute 30 seconds, but the pacing felt right, so I stuck with it.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Lumi was originally a 2D character, so I used my 2D artwork as a reference and modeled a 3D version. It’s not perfectly identical, but close enough that her personality carries over. Rigging went smoother this time since I had already learned a lot from my previous hand-rigging attempt.

Other assets — mirror, trash can, hair brush, drums, cursor, and UI elements — were modeled using a mix of modifiers and geometry nodes. I’m much more confident with modifiers now. I still need to learn more about IK bones, but the setup worked well for this project.

FINAL ANIMATION

Once the meshes and rigs were ready, I started animating. Timing was crucial, especially because Lumi’s movements needed to sync with my voice lines. I recorded all the dialogue myself, except for the crying sound (I couldn’t bring myself to record that), and adjusted Lumi’s voice using pitch and frequency modulation in CapCut.

I used Blender for almost everything: modeling, rigging, animation, and viewport rendering. CapCut handled voice editing, and I used After Effects for the final credits and assembly.

CONCLUSION & FUTURE SCOPE

I’m proud of how much I’ve improved through this project, especially in working with rigging, modifiers, and geometry nodes. Although it went well beyond my original 30-second plan, the extra time allowed the story to breathe and develop naturally. Moving forward, I want to improve my handling of object clipping, create more intentional “messy hair” animation for Lumi, strengthen my understanding of origins and vertex-based parenting, and learn proper IK setups to make my animations feel more grounded and polished.

CREDITS

Lumi is a mascot originally developed for Hello Local app.
Music: “Oops!… I Did It Again” — Britney Spears (2000)
Songwriters: Max Martin, Rami Yacoub
℗ 2000 Jive Records
Crying Sound Effect by freesound_community from Pixabay

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Explore More Work

Thanks for checking out this project! If you’re curious to see what else I’ve been working on – from motion design experiments to playful tech builds – feel free to take a look at some of my other projects below.

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